Step in the time machine as the Ars OpenForum talks retro gaming

What past gaming gems are you playing now? Joust anyone? Join the discussion.

One advantage of playing video games in 2012 is that users can take their pick across genre, platform (hear our recent podcast on PCs versus consoles), solo games, MMOs, and more. With many decades of games behind them, players can now also select games based on era. Many find retro titles highly replayable, even if they are played on a ROM or are downloaded online. If you grew up playing Space Invaders, Joust, or Altered Beast, you can still get your fill at any time.

Recently in the Ars OpenForum, fngurrier kicked off a thread aptly named “Retro gaming” in order to see what vintage titles Ars readers are playing. If you're looking for a list of games highlighting the obvious choices like Ms. Pac-Man, Ocarina of Time, or Sonic, you won't find it here. Some of the games discussed are going to surprise you, and others will jog your memories of youth because they are so familiar, so fun. We posted some selected video clips from some of these titles below as we discover what OpenForum members are saying.

Papaspider’sdefinitely a fan of the 1980s titles: “Anywho, I've been playing a lot of Spy Hunter (1983) lately. Oil slicking those damn switchblades never gets old."

Spy Hunter

Misterjim also recalls good memories from the days of consoles: “I love retro gaming! Growing up in the 70's I loved pinball, but when I saw and played my first Space Invaders game in 1978, I was hooked! I still love playing those old games. I own an Atari 2600 & Atari 7800, both in original packaging, mint condition! Every once in a while I pull them out and throw a retro gaming party where we can drink margaritas and play drunken Joust.”

BruceLee1255 is a fan of RPGs, and he picks this Final Fantasy Adventure sequel on the SNES system as a favorite: “Secret of Mana 2 is leagues ahead of the original. The combat is better, it's much less grindy, the story is better, and you can mix and match six different characters, which gives you different stories. Definitely recommended.”

Secret of Mana

PC games of the past also get a nod from zeqzero, who talks about playing an old favorite recently: “I played King's Quest V last weekend. I played on the big screen with the volume cranked so I could force my roommates to listen to that sh**** owl. 'No Graham! Don't go so close to the ledge!' 'Aaaaaaaaughhhhh' ”

King's Quest V

The OpenForum members really unearth some hidden gems in their discussion. In fact, you're in luck if you’re looking for games that may be good alternatives to more iconic franchises (like a certain Nintendo series that starts with the letter Z). Sulphur mentions this one: “Terranigma is indeed a gem of a game. It seems like an uninspired Zelda clone at first, so that starting bunch of dungeons is tiresome, but once you restore your first bit of the planet, that's when the game starts coming into its own. I played it when I was a kid, and even back then I realized that the translation was... well, let's just say it's unintentionally hilarious at points. But it's a good game with a novel premise, and some great music. And you get to massage a gypsy lady by walking into her. (Her back, that is. OK? Remember that. BACK.) Recommended! :thimb:”

Terranigma

It’s great to see some of the OpenForum users try out games recommended by others. fngurrier started the thread, but goes on to mention he's trying out the RPG Chrono Trigger for SNES for the first time: “Loving the music that I've heard so far, Yasunori Matsuda did an amazing job. The non turn-based battles are hard to get used to but still enjoyable.”

FadedDream talks about a few vintage titles of note, but thinks there’s one winner: “You've made an excellent decision. [Chrono Trigger] is my personal Best Game of All Time. Fun Fact, Yatsunori Mitsuda almost killed himself through overwork with his efforts on Chrono Trigger.”

Chrono Trigger

Deev also takes other forum members back in time by reflecting on how different games played when they were ported to arcades or consoles with his NES pick “Dragon Spirit had an arcade version and a TurboGrafx-16 version, but neither to me felt as fun as the NES port. Of course, different levels would explain some of that.”

Dragon Spirit

As you read through these posts and maybe dust off your own Intellivision or Sega Genesis, you may wonder, what games are considered to retro anyway? The thread contains a lively set of opinions on what that means, but the response from nastroseems to be the most open and welcoming of them all: “Retro is a personal thing, just like style. Retro is whatever pings the nostalgia funnybone. We're all of different ages here, so who's to judge? Why should you need one?”

What makes a game retro for you? Maybe you have a sleeper hit title that you want to recommend to other readers. Or maybe you want to share your memories of playing arcades, consoles, and pc games. Register for an account to participate in the discussion, or share your thoughts in the comments below.

Promoted Comments

So retro to me means anything SNES or older. I especially like the pcengine/tg16 era.... Dracula X ... Great music, extremely challenging... Actually my favorite castlevania... Though iv was really good. legendary axe anyone? One of the more interesting and challenging games I remember playing... Obviously R-type... Which was a great arcade port. Bonk was fun too... Though I think each subsequent release saw quality decline. I never got into ninja spirit though. Street fighter 2 on the tg16 of course.

Anyone remember the packin Sega gene? Safari hunt or something like that. It wasn't hateful. Double dragon was always fun. And turtles 2 on the nes.... But that was pretty mainstream.

146 Reader Comments

Ghouls N Ghosts. When I was young I knew every pixel in that game. It was incredibly difficult but I could get through it on one live every time. Recently started playing it in MAME and even though I die a a lot it's remarkable how much has stuck with me 20+ years later.

Does anybody remember Ascendancy? I loved that 4X game in the technology tree was really genius. The Logic Factory rereleased it on iOS devices, but it really is only playable in an iPad and not in the iPhone, unfortunately they did little to improve the bad KI and actually pulled the original DOS games from sites like GOG or Abandonia. I really hope they make enough money on the iOS sales to release Ascendancy 2!

Also does anybody remember M.A.X.? It was a great turned based strategy game but unfortunately came out around the same time as the first Command & Conquer. The second part was just really bad.

My old favorites include Secret of Evermore, Super Metroid, Final Fantasy VI and Super Mario RPG on the SNES.

Those titles have aged quite well (at least compared to early 3D games) and if I bothered to dig up the old console I could probably still play through them and actually have fun doing it (won't deny nostalgia would play a big part through).

If I go a bit farther back there was Probotector (Contra EU version I believe) and Battletoads on the NES, I played those until I could speed through them without difficulty but I was a bit too young then so they didn't leave as strong impression as the SNES games.

I've been playing the original Metal Slug on ios lately and it's remarkably good on a phone. Sale is on now definitely pick it up if it interests you. Strider is my all time fav arcade game, I pumped so many coins into that game until I could beat it on one life. And for some reason I much preferred the SEGA Phantasy Star RPGs over the early Final Fantasy games (even though they were a rip off). A rare arcade shoot em up I love isTimepilot '84. I remember watching a guy beat it on the arcades (it goes to level 99), he was incredibly talented.

When I was like in 5th grade in Chicago (10 years old?), I remember playing a game at school on what I believe was an Apple ][ c/e, don't remember, but it was an early graphic adventure involving the space shuttle or a space ship of some sort on a launch pad, a control center which you could explore, and dynamite used for some reason or other. From time to time when this comes to mind I've tried to look it up on the internet but I've found nothing. This would have been in the early eighties if not late seventies. Can anyone lend a hand?

This sounds like Mission Asteroid from Sierra, which I remember playing on our Apple ][+.

I loved the old Sierra games and I think I played all of them: King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Hero's Quest (later renamed Quest for Glory), Leisure Suit Larry, Gold Rush, and hell even Eco Quest. I think KQ3 was my favorite from that series. It would probably bore children today, but going out to find spell components, negotiating that ledge, and then performing them without the wizard catching and killing me was a real thrill at whatever age I was (8 maybe).

I remember when KQ4 came out. It was the first game (I think) with VGA graphpics. It was a massive leap in graphics quality and I immediately asked my parents for a new computer but I had to wait a couple years before it came. Computers were EXPENSIVE back then.

Chrono Trigger - I saved my paltry allowance for months to buy this. Totally worth it.Secret of ManaFinal Fantasy VIEarthbound - the last fight with Giygas was epic, I only learned how to beat him using true desperation after using up everything I had - the whole thing played out for me the way I expect the developers wanted it to play out.

I need to start Terranigma and Seiken Densetsu 2 & 3, but time is a precious resource when you have a 4 yr old daughter. A story I still annoy my wife with to this day was when I lent my SNES and all the above games temporarily to a friend in order to borrow his PSX. Time got away from us and he ended up moving away - with my SNES and games. I even had the specific strategy guide for Earthbound AND Final Fantasy 3 (VI)

Secret of Evermore. A Square RPG developed in US, uses historical settings from (mostly) western cultures, omits many nonsensical JRPG conventions and (to me at least) feels more engaging than other Square RPGs because of that. Ahead of its time in sound design, among other things.

You, sir, win an internet. That's still one of my favourite games and I still replay it regularly even now

Kitkoan wrote:

kone wrote:

Secret of Evermore. A Square RPG developed in US, uses historical settings from (mostly) western cultures, omits many nonsensical JRPG conventions and (to me at least) feels more engaging than other Square RPGs because of that. Ahead of its time in sound design, among other things.

It wasn't made by Square, it was made by Squaresoft which was Squares translating/US localizing arm. This is what made it so different from normal JRPGs, because it wasn't made by a japanese company. While it was a part of the Square family at the time, it wasn't their game making department/people.

If I recall correctly, its was a 'mod' made from Secret of Mana.

Yeah, it was made by Square America, first and only game they made. Shame really, it was an amazingly good effort. It was also the first (IIRC) game with music by that God among men, Jeremy Soule.

And for my own retro classic... gotta be Ikari Warriors on the old Amstrad CPC464, spent hours playing that with my brother in co-op.

I also faithfully replay Breath of Fire 3 every year and have done since the year it was released, it's just one of those games I can come back to time and again.

I'm playing No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way. It was pretty hard to find, and it should be enjoyed by more people.

I need to finish the Witcher, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is one of my favorite PC games ever. The unofficial patching and recovery/creation of content has been astounding... they are at version 8.4.2 at planet-vampire.net, 8 years after the game was released.

Hero's Quest from Sierra (the one that was later renamed Quest for Glory).

And Colonel's Bequest, also from Sierra. An underrated one, IMO. I loved wandering around, searching for clues, and searching for secret passages and such.

Come to think of it, the golden age of Sierra was pretty much my favourite. Great games coming out these days, make no mistake, but these games came along during my formative years and really had an effect.

I played both Colonel's bequest and Hero's Quest through an emulator not that long ago. Both are still good, although they're not everyone's cup of tea.

I've been working my way through the Mega Man games on my phone, using a NES emulator and an iControlPad. Playing these old games these days is actually kind of interesting; modern games can be very, very complicated, so it's kind of cool to go back and see just how much they were able to communicate in 256x240 with just 8 buttons (D-Pad, Select, Start, B, A) available to them.

I completely agree with nastro's comment. For me, now in my late thirties, retro means ZX Spectrum and Amiga games.

It's funny. Although I never even touched an Amiga, there was a TV show that showed snippets of its games and, to this day, seeing or even talking about the Amiga sends me right to nostalgia land, with its glorious rose colored hue...

I'm playing No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way. It was pretty hard to find, and it should be enjoyed by more people.

I need to finish the Witcher, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is one of my favorite PC games ever. The unofficial patching and recovery/creation of content has been astounding... they are at version 8.4.2 at planet-vampire.net, 8 years after the game was released.

None of which are retro. I think we have to stop somewhere around the SNES era, or mid 90's at the latest.

Zork, all the way baby! Text adventure/rpg games were some of the greatest computer games ever invented. I always had a great time with my buddies playing them, and trying to figure out all the steps to get through them. Good times.

Oh, and Commander Keen. Played many hours of that on OS/2 when I was in Hawaii back in '98.

Just to generalize, I was a big fan of Atari, and the original Nintendo and all of their respective games. Remember Pole Position? That was one of my top picks whenever I played.

Just beat Zelda II again on the 3DS, this time with a little help from save states. I'd beaten it when I was a kid already, but I don't have the patience to start all the way back at the castle every time I die anymore.

I've also been playing through Quake (1) and its add-ons via DarkPlaces. I still think it looks pretty good even without the fancy texture packs, and I appreciate a shooter with proper resource management and tight controls.

When I was like in 5th grade in Chicago (10 years old?), I remember playing a game at school on what I believe was an Apple ][ c/e, don't remember, but it was an early graphic adventure involving the space shuttle or a space ship of some sort on a launch pad, a control center which you could explore, and dynamite used for some reason or other. From time to time when this comes to mind I've tried to look it up on the internet but I've found nothing. This would have been in the early eighties if not late seventies. Can anyone lend a hand?

This sounds like Mission Asteroid from Sierra, which I remember playing on our Apple ][+.

Christ, looked that up and that's exactly it! THANKS! I've racked my brains many times over the years when that comes to mind. The Smack-Fu is strong in this one.

Also thanks Kitkoan, cactusbush, and AncientCreep for trying to help as well.

I thought I would just mention www.racketboy.com. I'm not sure how well known it is, maybe everyone's already aware of it. It's a site dedicated to retro gaming and they run something called "Together Retro" where they pick a game that everyone plays through at the same time. If you're looking for a retro gaming community, it seems like a good one.

While on the subject of retro RPGs, nothing comes close in my mind to Lunar. I bought it for the Sega CD, then repurchased it as Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete for the Playstation. It's the only RPG I've ever played through multiple times, and it holds every time.

Great story, great music, nice artwork, excellent pace, and a nice amount of humor thrown in by Working Designs who did the US localization. It's everything that I want from a JRPG without getting into the overly convoluted combat and power-up systems of the later Final Fantasy games.

The sequel, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue is also very well done, and certainly worth playing if you're a fan of traditional turn-based-combat JRPGs.

I've always loved the PC Engine/TurboGrafX system and still play through several games from that system at least once a year. My favorite has got to be Gate of Thunder. I can't even explain why. There is a certain mode I get into periodically where the only thing that makes me feel better is to play that game. You can call it nostalgia or familiarity or whatever, but it's definitely a special comfort zone for me.

ETA: Another series of old Turbo games I still play frequently is the Ys series. I was happy to see that series revived in recent years on the PSP!

I don't know if this counts as a gem per se, but I bought The Sword of Hope 2, an original Game boy title, off the 3DS eshop and am thoroughly enjoying it. I never even played it as a kid, but I cant put it down!

I've always loved the PC Engine/TurboGrafX system and still play through several games from that system at least once a year. My favorite has got to be Gate of Thunder. I can't even explain why. There is a certain mode I get into periodically where the only thing that makes me feel better is to play that game. You can call it nostalgia or familiarity or whatever, but it's definitely a special comfort zone for me.

ETA: Another series of old Turbo games I still play frequently is the Ys series. I was happy to see that series revived in recent years on the PSP!

Ys Celceta is one of a few very good reasons to own a Vita too, highly recommend playing it if you're an Ys fan It's not localised yet but I imagine Xseed will be doing it at some point in the near future.

None of which are retro. I think we have to stop somewhere around the SNES era, or mid 90's at the latest.

I consider it to be pretty much everything before the PS1. Why I use that criterium: after that we got CDs for the soundtracks.

The music and the dedicated sound chips and the limits in the color palette are what makes things retro, IMHO; once you start to go beyond that, things will just look dated.

Right now I'm not playing anything - I still need to set up a bunch of emulators. I have a set of C64s and Amiga 500s that still need to be sorted out, but I fear the worst for the floppy disks. I also have a Genesis lying around somewhere with all the games I wanted on it (the Sonic series), and while it's outside of my own definition of retro, the N64 with a similar set. The N64 really showcases the problem with the older 3d games - the worlds are so empty compared to the newer games.

So retro to me means anything SNES or older. I especially like the pcengine/tg16 era.... Dracula X ... Great music, extremely challenging... Actually my favorite castlevania... Though iv was really good. legendary axe anyone? One of the more interesting and challenging games I remember playing... Obviously R-type... Which was a great arcade port. Bonk was fun too... Though I think each subsequent release saw quality decline. I never got into ninja spirit though. Street fighter 2 on the tg16 of course.

Anyone remember the packin Sega gene? Safari hunt or something like that. It wasn't hateful. Double dragon was always fun. And turtles 2 on the nes.... But that was pretty mainstream.

Cesar Torres / Cesar is the Social Editor at Ars Technica. His areas of expertise are in online communities, human-computer interaction, usability, and e-reader technology. Cesar lives in New York City.